Building Workers’ Power at Lidl and Kaufland

On 20–21 September 2026, 55 trade unionists representing workers at Lidl and Kaufland in 19 European countries and the United States gathered at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s headquarters in Berlin. The meeting focused on working conditions, organising strategies, and ways to strengthen trade union power across national borders.

Lidl and Kaufland are part of the Schwarz Group, Europe’s largest retail group, with around 600,000 employees. While its owner, Dieter Schwarz, is Germany’s richest billionaire, employees across the group face demanding working conditions, high workloads, and considerable pressure. Building strong trade union structures and cross-border cooperation is therefore crucial to improving working conditions and strengthening workers’ bargaining power.

Since 2020, UNI Global Union has been developing an international network bringing together trade unionists organising at Lidl and Kaufland. The Berlin meeting provided an opportunity to exchange experiences, discuss organising strategies, and learn from successful struggles in different countries. Participants’ reports demonstrated that collective organising can achieve tangible improvements in working conditions — and that international cooperation can help strengthen these efforts.

The meeting was organised at the invitation of UNI Global Union, with ver.di supporting the second day of discussions. It was opened by Mathias Bolton, Head of UNI Commerce, Silke Zimmer, Head of ver.di’s Retail Section, and Bernd Riexinger, Chair of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.

The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung supported the meeting through its European Department and Brussels Office, contributing to the development of cross-border networks and strategic exchange among trade unionists seeking to build workers’ power across Europe.

In his concluding remarks, Boris Kanzleiter of RLS Brussels explained the need to link trade union struggles with other social and political struggles. The political sphere could improve the framework for trade union struggles. Trade unions needed to strengthen alliances in the fight for social rights and international solidarity in Europe.